


War Dogs

by Rainy_Skies



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fire, Gen, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 20:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30111630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainy_Skies/pseuds/Rainy_Skies
Summary: ShinRa's reach is as long as the shadow it casts. They would do anything for power. Even conscript teenagers into their military.After the events of a power outage in Modeoheim, the Turks come knocking on the Alves family's door demanding the father to release Celsi to their custody, finding her to be a viable candidate for SOLDIER.Her life spirals out of her control as she struggles to come to terms with her new occupation. Along the way she befriends an over eager young Zack Fair, and finds a reason to stay engaged with the world thanks to him.But life in the sun cannot last and one by one the pieces will fall, bringing her world crashing to the ground.





	War Dogs

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my handsome spouse for beta-reading this for me!
> 
> TW for house-fires and violence against teenagers.

The Alves family lived a rather quiet life in the small Shinra-controlled town of Modeoheim in the Knowlespole region of Gaia. Aurelius Alves was a technician for the Plant in Modeoheim with a modest income. Rent was cheap as not many people want to live out in the cold. His wife, Vivian, was an aspiring thespian and playwright. The two of them had met after a showing of a college production of Loveless that she had starred in as one of the minor characters, and almost instantly hit it off. They have been married for sixteen years, and between them had a now 15 year old daughter named Excelsior.

Excelsior bore the name of a character from one of her mother’s favorite plays “Children of the Light”, which was a dramatic telling of the story of Creation. Few knew her full name as she often went by Celsi, knowing full well that Excelsior was a truly uncommon name, especially for a lady. Her formative years were relatively uneventful, save for the occasional school yard bully. They would typically tease her for bullshit reasons such as her height as she was shorter than most kids her age. Her mother often explained this away as being a “late bloomer” and she would grow when her body was good and ready. She felt this was an unsatisfactory response and would try desperately to will her body to grow, or do things such as wear platform shoes. On occasion she got teased for her name, or for having her nose buried in some book or another. Celsi would do her best to grin and bear it and tell them off with phrases such as “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” but, as people know, this cliche phrase is ineffective. She would spend some days feeling blue, and not want to go to school. But she was strong of spirit, and would be able to bounce back most of the time. However, her uneventful life was soon to change.

……….

Celsi had just returned from school to an empty house. Her father was away at work, and her mother had left that morning for Nibelheim to act in the latest production of “Lost at Sea”. She shivered.  _ “That’s odd…. It’s colder than usual in this house,”  _ she thought as she walked to the dining room and set her backpack on the table.  _ “Better check the thermostat.”  _ Hugging her arms around herself in an effort to keep warm, Celsi checked the thermostat in the next room. The reading was blank. “Well,  _ shit _ . That’s the second time this month that the power went out. And it’s going to get even colder when night hits,” Celsi grumbled, thinking aloud. “Better get a fire going. I bet dad’s day has been hell.” She made her way out the back door, making a whining noise as the winds outside hit her full blast, and trudged through the snow to their shed to retrieve firewood. Once she had lugged enough firewood and kindling back into the house, she began to put some of the wood into a small pile in their well-used fireplace, interspersing it with bits of old leaves and paper. Celsi had found a box of matches atop the mantle, and pulled one out, striking it against the sulfur surface of the match box and trying to get the wood to light. So far no luck, only the kindling caught on fire and it started to burn itself out. She tried again a few times, grunting with frustration as each attempt ended with the same result. “Oh don’t tell me the wood isn’t dried! We just got this a few days ago!” she growled. Picking up two bits of wood, she clapped them together. The woods resounded with a deep thud. “Seasoned my ass…” she grumbled before pulling out her phone to call her father, hoping she could get a hold of him. The receptionist picked up.

“Modeoheim Mako Plant, Sheila speaking, how may I help you?” 

“It’s Celsi. I’m trying to reach my dad,” Celsi responded.

“Okay, hon, and who is your father?” Sheila asked.

“Oh… I guess you must be a new receptionist. Two Sheilas, who’d have thought,” her voice fell slightly, before resuming it’s usual cadence. “I’m looking for Aurelius Alves?”

There was a slight pause before Sheila responded with, “Excuse me one moment while I look for your father’s extension. Alves… Alves… Alves… Ah here it is. Please hold while I connect you.” 

Celsi held the phone away from her ear slightly as loud cheesy music played over the phone followed by the occasional robotic message of “Thank you for your patience. Due to the recent power outages, lines may be busy. ShinRa Electric does its best to make sure each and every customer is attended to. Please stay on the line, or hang up and try again later. Again Shinra thanks you for your patience.” After ten minutes of holding, Celsi groaned and hung up before tossing her phone to the side. “Thanks dad for the crappy ass firewood!” she growled before picking up a log and throwing it to the side. She looked shocked for a moment as small sparks flew out of her fingertips landing on the upholstery and carpet.

“Uh… that’s not good,” She stammered as it caught fire. Celsi knew she only had a few moments before the small fires became a raging inferno consuming her home. She rushed over to the kitchen and rummaged under the sink looking for the extinguisher. Once she found it she ran over to the now flaming curtains and pulled the pin on the extinguisher. Her hands were covered with the rust powder that had been coating the handle, and her eyes widened.

“Oh gods,  _ please _ don’t be stuck!” She pleaded as she tried to squeeze the handle. It wouldn’t budge. “FUCK!” Celsi shrieked in despair as the blaze only spread. She did the only thing her stress-addled brain could think of to do: Grab her phone and get outside. Once she was a good distance from the house, she flipped out her phone and shakily dialed the emergency number.

“199, what’s your emergency?” A cool even-toned voice asked over the phone.

“My house is on fire!” Celsi blubbered to the operator before descending into hysterics, saying things along the lines of “my parents are going to kill me” and the like.

“Miss, I need you to take a deep breath, and tell me where you are,” The operator spoke calmly, and soothingly. 

“I...I live at 1739 Fir Way,” Celsi answered between shaking breaths as she watched the smoke billow out from her house.

“Alright, now stay on the line, I’m going to dispatch the fire department and ambulance, okay? Help will be on the way,” The operator said in a soothing manner, trying to help keep Celsi calm, before a soothing melody played over the line. Within a couple of minutes the operator’s voice cut back in. “The emergency services are 10 minutes away. Now I need to ask you some questions. Are you having any trouble breathing?”

A couple of people down the street started to gather, all of them looking in the direction of Celsi’s home, which started to smoke heavily. They murmured amongst themselves wondering how in the world the fire started, and started speculating. None of their speculations were really close to the truth.

“Not really. I ran out of my house and down the street. Now the neighbors are coming out, and they’re staring….God, Dad’s gonna kill me when he gets off work. But I swear it was an accident!” Her voice started to crack again as she noticed the fire getting bigger. “Gods, it’s getting bigger! All of Mom’s stories… gone…”

“It will be okay. Help is on the way. I understand this is scary. And it’s okay to be afraid.” The operator followed up with more questions, “Any injuries? Was there anyone in the house with you?”

“No and no. I was home by myself. I just got off of school and found out that the power went out at my house. I tried to start a fire in the fireplace, but it didn’t work. I fucked up… I really fucked up!” Celsi sniffled before starting to sob again.

“Okay. I see… I just got an update that the emergency vehicles are almost there. The EMTs are going to ask you some questions, and do some tests on you to make sure you’re okay. I need you to try and remain calm while they do so, so they can get the answers they need.”

“I-I’ll try…” Celsi garbled out between sobs.

A faint wailing of sirens blared down the street, gradually getting louder the closer they came. Soon the fire truck pulled up in front of the now blazing house, and four firefighters exited the vehicle and got to work. Two of them hauled one end of the hose down to the nearest fire hydrant, wrenched the contraption open, and attached the hose securely to the opening before letting the water loose. The other two firefighters aimed the hose at the house, and did their best to hang on while the hose bucked and swayed from the water pressure. There was a growing crowd near the end of the street watching the commotion. Shortly afterward an ambulance pulled over not far from Celsi. Two EMTs exited the back of the vehicle and scanned the area. They spotted Celsi rather quickly as she was the only one sobbing rather than gawking, and figured that this must be the lady who called the emergency services. 

“That must be her, Zephyr,” One of them said to the other.

“Yeah, she’s way too upset about this not to be, Strauss,” Zephyr replied. “You wanna take point on this one or should I?”

“You’re better at being soft than I am,” Strauss answered. “You talk to her. I’ll ready the equipment.”

Zephyr approached the sobbing teen with the messy red hair. “Hey…. are you the one who called us here?” He asked in a low quiet voice, as to not upset her any further.

Celsi nodded in response, sniffling loudly in an effort to keep the mucus from running down her face. The lump in her throat was too tight to respond.

“We’re here to help you. I’m going to need you to come with me so we can check you over. I promise it will be quick and painless,” Zephyr assured her. “I’m going to put my hand on you okay? And lead you over to the ambulance. I can see you’re in distress…”

Celsi did not respond beyond a slow nod as she shook from the stress and tears. Zephyr put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle nudge, and the two of them trudged over to the open doors of the ambulance, where Strauss awaited them with a fingertip oximeter in hand, and an oxygen mask next to him. 

“Hold out your finger, please. We’re going to take your pulse and oxygen levels,” Strauss commanded coolly. When Celsi complied, he placed the oximeter on her finger, and waited until the machine beeped. He took the oximeter off her finger and examined the results. “Your pulse is a little quick, but that is normal in a stress response, and your oxygen is normal. It looks like you got out quickly enough…” Strauss replied in a gruff attempt at a soothing voice.

"Now, is there anyone you’d like us to call?” Zephyr asked.

Celsi nodded and responded with an “Mmmhmm… My… my dad. A-aurelius Alves. H-he works down at the Mako Plant,” She managed to choke out between sobs,as she pulled open her phone and selected the Mako Plant in her contacts before handing the phone to Zephyr, and thanking him. She sat on the edge of the back of the ambulance and put her head in her hands, while Strauss tried to comfort her with an awkward pat on the back. 

“Hello, this is Zephyr Ackerman with EMS, I am trying to reach an Aurelius Alves? Yes, I’ll hold. Thank you.” Zephyr spoke into Celsi’s phone. “Hi, is this Aurelius? Yes, this is Zephyr Ackerman with EMS. No, no your daughter is fine physically speaking. There was a fire and we were called to the scene. Your daughter is here with us outside the house. Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay, I’ll let her know. Goodbye.” He flipped the phone shut and handed it back to Celsi, before crouching down next to her. “Your dad says he’s on his way, kiddo,” Zephyr informed her. “He told me to let you know you’re not in trouble, as he knows you’re going to blame yourself.” He got a whimper and a sniffle in response. “Hey, I’ll tell you what. We’ll wait right here with you until your dad gets here. Would that make you feel better?” Celsi nodded and gave an mhm in response. 

Twenty minutes passed before a familiar car pulled over onto the side of the road, and out stepped an auburn haired man in his thirties with circular glasses. He was dressed in a dark grey utility jumper that barely fit him properly, and wore a pair of safety goggles around his neck. The man looked distressed as he whipped his head around looking for something. When he spotted Celsi, he rushed over. “Oh Celsi, thank goodness you’re alright!” he exclaimed before wrapping his arms around his daughter in a tight embrace.

“I’m sorry Dad…. It’s all my fault,” Celsi muffled into her father’s hug. 

“Nonsense! You didn’t go out of your way to purposefully set that fire, and I know it. You’re a good kid, Excelsior Alves. Now tell me, why are you going around blaming yourself for it?” her father asked, as he pulled back from the hug to allow her to respond. His tired green eyes stared into her medium brown ones, waiting expectantly for a response as he brushed a stray hair out of her freckled face.

Celsi looked somewhat relieved that her father did not blame her for this mess, and was starting to calm down enough to talk clearly. “I… I was trying to start a fire in the fireplace, but nothing was working and I tried to call you to see where I could find some fresh wood. But I was on hold for a reeeeealllly long time so I hung up. Then I threw a log across the room because I was upset. It was so cold in the house and there was no power, and I didn’t know what to do. Then fire came out of my hand… and the house caught on fire! Gods I’m so sorry dad. Mom’s gonna be so sad that all her manuscripts are gone! And now where are we going to sleep?!”

“Oh geez. If anything it was my fault. If only I hadn’t bought that wood off the back of a truck and had just gone to the store to get some properly cured wood, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Aurelius replied, heaving a sigh at his past self’s laziness, before continuing, “ It was really busy at work, and I’m sorry I didn’t pick up. We had a few generator boxes go out, and I had to help reroute power and get the boxes back online. As for your mom’s manuscripts? Well, she typically has a digital file stored on her computer which she’d brought with her for her trip. I’ll see what we can do as far as lodgings. The Icicle Inn isn’t too far away, and Ol’ Remus owes me a favor.” 

After the emergency services had dealt with the fire, and questioning was done trying to piece together what could have possibly caused the fire, Aurelius and Celsi drove down to the Icicle Inn 10 minutes outside of Modeoheim, and after some heckling about favors and who owes whom, Aurelius had gotten them a room at the inn. Celsi had slumped into one of the beds and closed her eyes while Aurelius had placed a few phone calls. The first couple of calls were to his wife and job to let them know what had happened. The last call was to the home insurance to file a claim. By the time he had finished making his phone calls, argued with the insurance agents about whether or not his claim was valid, and threatened to sue if they didn’t do a proper investigation, Aurelius looked tired and worn. He followed Celsi’s lead and flopped onto the bed, not bothering to undress, and fell asleep. As he closed his eyes, he could have sworn he heard a pair of feet suddenly leave the area outside his door, but didn’t think much of it.

......

The next few weeks were turmoil for the Alves family as they battled with the insurance company to receive their claim payout, but ultimately the insurance acquiesced, finding that despite the fire being started by magical means, the family had no means to obtain materia to purposefully start a fire, and thus the event was declared an “Act of God”. 

However, ShinRa knew otherwise. A Turk had been keeping an eye on the legal battle between the Alveses and the home insurance firm, curious as to whether the conversations he heard on the phone from Aurelius had any truth to them. If so, the Turk thought it was something his employers should know about, as the child could be a safety hazard without proper guidance. Once the insurance had finalized the results of their investigation and paid out the claim, the mysterious spy had gotten into contact with his superiors. After receiving the green light to retrieve Excelsior Alves, the Turk decided to pay a visit to the room the Alveses had been staying at

.…..

A sharp rap on the door of the inn-room had startled Celsi who had been doing some late night reading. She jumped a little and snapped her book shut. “Dad, someone’s at the door,” she said.

A formerly napping Aurelius groaned, and grumbled, “Give me a minute,” in a tired voice. Another rap on the door, more insistent than the first, could be heard. “Geez, whoever it is doesn’t understand a little thing called patience.” Aurelius rubbed his eyes and got out of the bed, before answering the door. He gasped softly in astonishment as he saw the familiar navy blue suit of the Turks on a man with dark brown hair styled into an undercut, and a swarthy complexion to match. “Had I known one of  _ you _ would be here, I would have at least gone through the trouble of putting on some proper clothes… I wasn’t aware the Turks make house calls at this hour.”

“If I announce my presence wherever I go, what kind of Turk would I be,” the Turk responded haughtily with a slight foreign accent. “Unlike a certain loudmouthed member, I have some sense. Anyway, never mind that, my name is Wenceslas Svoboda.” He held out a hand for Aurelius to shake. “I apologize for the late hour, but I really must talk with you. May I come in?”

Aurelius declined the handshake, not feeling awake enough for such civilities. He stepped aside and mumbled out an apology about the mess in the inn room, before leading Wenceslas to a desk in the corner of the room. “Make it brief, please, I have to be at the Plant really early today.” He turned to Celsi for a moment and said to her, “Celsi, why don’t you go for a walk? I’m sure that Remus is awake right now and would love a chat. The old man gets lonely sometimes.”

“Okay, Dad!” Celsi replied, before getting up and exiting the room. The door closed behind her with a click, and she walked down the hall. Celsi paused before quietly sneaking her way back to the door. No way was she going to miss out on her dad’s conversation with a Turk. She crouched down to the side of the door and pressed her ear to the wall to eavesdrop.

Wenceslas had taken a seat, and set the briefcase he had been carrying onto the desk. He popped it open and withdrew a folder. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Mr. Alves, but I have been following your claim with the insurance company rather closely as of late.”

“What interest could the Turks possibly have in an insurance claim?!” Aurelius exclaimed in surprise.

"It is not so much the claim itself. We could care less about who gets what…" Wenceslas said slowly. "It's more of the reason behind the claim you had filed. From my understanding, your daughter claimed to have accidentally started the fire with magic. Strange how that is when your financial records show that there were no recent purchases of materia."

Aurelius' eyes narrowed. "And what business is it of yours whether or not materia was involved? What do you want with my daughter?" He kept his voice level, but his body language indicated that he was agitated.

"It  _ is _ our business when people show signs of being able to use magic without materia, Mr. Alves," the Turk replied. Aurelius opened his mouth to protest, but Wenceslas raised a finger to silence him before continuing. "I'll just tell it to you straight. We know your daughter has some magical capabilities and if it goes unchecked, she is a hazard to the public. A ticking time bomb you might say. I'm here to bring your daughter back to headquarters where she will receive training in our SOLDIER program."

Outside the door to the room, Celsi's face scrunched up in anger and distress.  _ "SOLDIER?!?! They want me to fight for their military now?! Oh hell no! I don't want to die for some pointless conquest of theirs!"  _ She thought, before standing up and racing down the hall. She rounded the corner and was immediately restrained by a raven-haired woman wearing the same uniform as the Turk that was talking to her father. Celsi struggled, trying to get out of the Turk’s grasp. “LET ME GO!” she shouted. “I’M NOT GOING WITH YOU! NOW LET ME GO!” 

“We both know that I can’t do that. So stop making a scene,” The woman responded, grunting occasionally as Celsi struggled against her grip.

“I said. Let. Me. Go!” Celsi bit the Turk’s hand.

The Turk swore loudly before she grabbed Celsi by the hair and slammed her head into the wall. Celsi cried out in pain before falling unconscious. The Turk gave a swift kick to Celsi’s side, angry about being bitten. “That’s what you get for biting me, you damn feral animal,” she growled before she bent down and picked up the now injured and unconscious Celsi and carried her over her shoulder back to the room the Alveses had been staying in. She opened the door and looked over at the distraught father and her partner Wenceslas talking to one another. “Celas, I bagged the target. Let’s go,” she said.

“Loretta? What the hell happened to your hand?” Wenceslas rose with a start.

“Who are you and what the hell did you do to my daughter?!” Aurelius stood up, his hands balling into fists. “She’s  _ bleeding _ .”

“She tried to run, and bit me trying to escape like a damn animal. I simply did what I had to.”

“Last I checked, Loretta, simply doing what you had to do shouldn't involve hurting teenagers,” Wenceslas said, his tone scornful. “There are better ways to knock her if it was necessary. Did you forget the chloroform again?”

Loretta scoffed and didn’t respond to Celas’ question. 

Celas grunted and rolled his eyes in response before turning to Aurelius. “Aurelius, was it? I apologize for my co-worker's behavior. We have a good medical team back on base, and she will be well attended to.”

“She hit my daughter, and you expect me to accept your apology?! Gods, the kinds of people ShinRa employ….” Aurelius responded before moving in front of Wenceslas and looking him square in the eye. "I know I don't have a choice or a means to fight back, Turk. So listen up. My daughter is my pride and joy, so take care of her, or I swear by the gods I will find some way of making you pay dearly, even if it takes me an eternity to do it." He shook a little, trying to fight back against overwhelming emotions of grief. "I just pray she forgives me for this…"

A long pause of silence followed Aurelius' threats before Wenceslas sighed. "I'll try," he finally said, his voice low and quiet.

Loretta rolled her eyes and started to head out of the room. "I'll meet you at the car, Celas," she muttered as she exited the room.

Wenceslas grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen off of Aurelius' desk and wrote down an address as well as phone number. He handed it to Aurelius. "Here. You can at least send her letters. The phone number is mine. You are welcome to call me, and I'll try and put you in contact with her and give you updates."

"Huh…. Never thought I'd meet a Turk with a conscience," Aurelius said, his voice cracking. "Thank you."

Wenceslas gave Aurelius' shoulder a squeeze before he left the room, leaving Aurelius to grieve.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thanks for taking the time to read my fic! I just sat down and drew a SOLDIER character and within the same day came up with the gist of her story the same day which lead to this passion project. I'm hoping my ADHD ass can maintain focus on this long enough to stick to this.


End file.
